The view from my back porch tonight....

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Last days off..

My days off are quickly winding down.. I go back to work on Monday. It's been a very quick 12 weeks, but I'm so thankful to have been able to take this much time off. I've really enjoyed spending lots of quality time with Harper getting to know each other, and I've also enjoyed extra time with Hudson these past couple of weeks. Last week we spent 9 days on vacation. This week Hudson has gone to Vacation Bible School at our church in the mornings. We've had fun playing in the afternoons, too. Today I asked my mom to keep Harper so I could take Hudson to lunch & swimming when I picked him up at noon from VBS. It was pretty chilly at the pool but we had a great time! I enjoyed spending one on one time with him for sure! He enjoyed a pb&j at the Tech Counter culture, jumping off the side a hundred times, swimming out to the middle of the pool by himself & a cotton candy snack after our swim! I was really proud of him in the pool.










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Hudson loves his sister!!

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Catch up on Harper

I have a lot of posts that I need to write, but for now I will post an update on Harper. Since the last post, a lot has happened. After the 12 day hospital stay that I blogged about, we went home for a week & ended up back in the hospital. Harper was off on antibiotics for 4 days when her fever came back. We headed up to Green Clinic where they did all of the same tests again. Poor baby has now had 2 spinal taps, where as most children never have one! Once again we headed to the hospital because of her age. Once again it was confirmed that she had another Uti. We spent another 7 days in the hospital but this time the tests revealed that she had bladder reflux. We were referred to a pediatric urologist in Shreveport & met with him 2 days after being discharged. Harper has grade 5 reflux, which is the worst. For the time being, we will treat with a daily dose of antibiotics. Bladder reflux can improve with age so they do not like to do any procedures right away. If Harper remains infection free, we will not see the specialist again until she is a year old. While any parent hates to her that there hold has as medical problem, I am so glad to know what was causing her infections & to have a plan.
Here is a picture of our sweet girl during her 2nd stay.





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Thankful

I didn't get the report that I'd hoped for yesterday, but we will make it. Because the infection had gone to her blood, because of the type of infection & because of Harper's age, there is a minimum requirement for the number of days of IV antibiotics. This means we will be in the hospital until next Monday for sure. She is supposed to take 4 days of oral antibiotics after that, but if she has trouble taking the oral, we'll have to stay 2 more days. It's very difficult to see any light at the end, but I know that we will make it. I'm thankful that her little body started responding to the antibiotics so quickly. I'm thankful for a wonderful doctor who is taking good care of us. I'm thankful for the great nurses that we've encountered. I'm thankful for a 12 day hospital stay when many other children live in hospitals for months at a time with cancer & other extreme illnesses. I'm thankful for a husband who is as active in our children's lives as I am. I'm thankful for grandparents who are willing to put their lives aside to help us in any way possible. I'm thankful for my friends who have been checking on us everyday, come to visit us, brought us snacks, money for food, magazines, dinner, etc. Even though this is a trying time for our family, I will trust God's plan & be thankful for this season of life.



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Hospital stay

Well, I never thought that Harper's first sick visit would be at 3 weeks old & I certainly didn't think she'd be put in the hospital at this young age. Shows what I know. On Thursday I noticed that she felt warm. At first I thought she was wrapped up too much but as the day went along & I started taking her temp, I realized she had a little fever. 100.4 is the cut off for babies so when her temp was 100.8 at 2:30 that afternoon, I called Dr Moak's office. They told me to come in ASAP & by the time we got there 30 minutes later, her temp was 103.5. I was panicked when I saw that thermometer ticking up. They assured me they would take good care of her. They gave her some Tylenol & began running tests. They did a flu swab, rsv swab & chest X-ray. All were negative. They put a catheter in to get a urine sample. Then they advised that a spinal tap would be the recommended next step. After explanation & discussion, we agreed. Dr Moak advised early in the appt that at Harper's age, a hospital stay would follow. So after all the tests were complete in her office, we headed next door to the hospital. I won't pretend that i was okay. I was boo hooing in the dr's office & things did not get better for a while. At the hospital, the veins in both hands blew while attempting to put in an iv. This meant that they had to put iv in her scalp. I came unglued but we made it through. That first night was LONG. She was still running a very high fever & totally uncomfortable. They didn't want us to hold her because our body heat would only make her temp go higher.We tried to comfort her as best we could as she laid in the little bassinet. When her temp reached 104, the nurse did a sponge bath on her. That helped & her temp began falling some. I was up with her until 4:45 while Eric tried to nap a little bit & then we traded for a little bit. I cat napped for about an hour & a half, just enough to give me a little more get up & go. Fortunately the peds rooms here have a crib/bassinet, a normal hospital bed & a recliner so there is room for all 3 of us. The next day things were already looking better & she seemed more like herself.
Here we are 4 days later. We now have a diagnosis of a Urinary Tract Infection. The plan of care called for testing to determine if this "just happened" or if she had an anatomical problem. We got the results this morning that her ultrasound was completely normal! Huge praise! Now we wait to see if blood culture shows infection or if yesterday's was positive due to a contaminant. Harper has been fever free for over 24 hours, her coloring is back to normal & she is sleeping, eating & acting herself.
Regardless, we are here for a minimum 7 day round of IV antibiotics. Could be 10 day. All of this is very upsetting but we certainly want her 100% before we take her home. It's been really difficult being away from Hudson. I have felt really guilty even though he's in great hands. It just hurts my feelings to be away from him & have his routine turned upside down. We are doing our best to leave the hospital for a couple of hours to spend time with him while my mom stays with Harper & he has gotten to come visit us as well. He is really concerned about where his baby sister is. It's amazing & so sweet how attached he is to her after only 3 weeks. He knows something is not right when we are all 4 not together.
Here is my sweet girl hanging out today. Please continue to pray for her healing!




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Easter Egg Hunt at school

Hudson’s daycare hosted an Easter Egg hunt one afternoon last week. Aside from visiting the dr, it was my first time to get out of the house & I definitely enjoyed it! I loved getting to spend a little time focusing on my sweet boy! After the egg hunt we took him to Twisted Cow!